2010 YTD – Q3 Perspective
It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is less than a week away. It’s a good time to reflect on the past year and to look ahead to 2011.
From our perspective, we certainly have seen some improvement in 2010 over 2009…at least, in total. Forestry is up 50%. In fact, it’s the best year we have seen in this segment of the market since 2004! Other markets we serve are up over 30% including Pettibone and Forklift Engine Parts. We believe the housing and small to mid size commercial construction markets have bottomed in 2010. This is based on government and industry reports, customer input as well as what we have seen with our own Rough Terrain telehandler parts sales.
What does the future hold? No one knows, but there are some indications that we will continue to see gradual improvement in 2011.
- Based on industry reports, we believe that Forestry will hold up and show further improvement in the next year.
- It’s hard to imagine Construction getting worse and most of the prognosticators and others we talk to in the industry seem to believe the numbers will improve; although, it may take years before we get back to what we were seeing 2005-2007.
That being said, we believe that there is an opportunity to outperform the market. What is it that your customers are looking for? What do they value? For Tiffin, our customers have told us that availability of quality parts that are priced fairly is most important. And that’s what we are committed to providing.
- We’ve expanded our product lines to provide our customers with a wider range of parts based on what our customers have been telling us they need.
- We are adding new product lines to serve a broader market with parts for brands of equipment we haven’t supported in the past like JLG and Genie Telehandlers and various brands of Skidders. Look for announcements in the coming weeks!
Thanks to all of our customers for their support.
All the best during this holiday season!
Out in the field…June 2010
I was at an all day training session for a new Barko dealer. Barko, our sister company, makes what many consider to be the finest loaders in the industry. Two of Barko’s application engineers conducted the training for the dealer’s technicians and sales people. It was great to see the knowledge being exchanged in the room and the hands on time with the equipment that this level of personalized training offers.
The Forestry market has taken off in the past few months and it’s good to see. The general sentiment I’m hearing is that this isn’t short lived and will be sustained. Tiffin’s been committed to this market for well over a decade and we’re actively adding to our product line to meet our customers’ needs. We are the leading aftermarket supplier for Prentice and Hydro-Ax replacement parts and are working to build on that line as well as all of the other brands we support like John Deere and Tigercat.
We’re also the leading aftermarket replacement parts supplier for SkyTrak and Lull telehandlers and are building our line to support JLG and Genie branded rough terrain fork lifts. While utilization rates have remained depressed for this market, we are positioning Tiffin to be the leading supplier of aftermarket parts for all major brands of telehandlers by the end of 2010.
While new forklift equipment sales continue to be off, sales of Industrial Engine replacement parts are up over 2009. Equipment is being put back in service as market conditions slowly improve. We’ll be making a major announcement later this month regarding an addition to our product line as the first in the market to offer parts for a popular engine that up to now has been prohibitive to rebuild.
At Tiffin, we’re committed to helping our customers be successful. Industry leading availability, high quality and personalized service set us apart. Let us know what we can do for you!
Out in the field…April 2010
This week I’ve been in the great state of Texas. I drove from Dallas to Houston and back. I was told that Spring blooms from Houston to Dallas at a rate of 20 miles a day…the blue bonnets, yellow wildflowers and red clover were spectacular.
There is also a feeling that typically Texas goes into a recession last and comes out last. The oilfield industry is picking up. The optimism is unlike what I have seen elsewhere as I have traveled throughout the country. Perhaps Texas will lead the country in coming out of the economic doldrums.
Forestry was soft earlier in the year due to all of the bad weather that moved through the Southeastern US. The weather cleared and March was strong and April is starting even stronger. Sales of Industrial Engine Parts used primarily in forklift applications have been strong this year as well. The Material Handling Dealers and Independent Repair Facilities in Texas are busy. The telehandler utilization rates are low here as they are elsewhere, but there does seem to be some early movement. The optimism is that things will really begin to pick up over the next couple of months, where what I heard in other parts of the country was people talking about this year remaining flat with some slight improvement in 2011.
Let’s hope that the signs of economic improvement in Texas spread to the rest of the country like the wild flowers are spreading from Houston to Dallas!
All the best!
Out in the field…March 2010
Last week I was in California and Oregon calling on customers. Most were Rental Equipment Companies and Engine Parts Warehouse Distributors. As I found in Alabama and Georgia in February, at best, cautious optimism rules the day. Most feel we’ve hit bottom, but many have yet to see improvement in the markets they serve.
They expressed what we have been hearing for the past year. One manager commented that customers are cannibalizing equipment for parts rather than buying a part they need. Another said that for their own equipment they are only “fixing to fail”, meaning that they only work on equipment when it breaks…they are not doing preventive maintenance. On one visit I made, a customer called and leased a piece of equipment. I commented that it was the kind of call you like to hear. Yes, but the salesperson told me that they used to lease that piece of equipment for $450 per day and now they are only charging $250.
At the Engine Parts Warehouse Distributors I called on, I didn’t see a lot of inventory. WDs are ordering for customers as needed rather than stocking for when needed.
So what does this tell us? Perhaps we have hit bottom. We are seeing some activity and it has appeared to be picking up in the past few weeks. There is pent up demand. As customers look to put equipment back into service, they will need to replace parts taken from one piece of equipment for another.
At Tiffin Parts, we are doing a number of things to help our customers control costs to be more competitive and profitable:
-We stock the parts so you don’t have to…we have what you need when you need it
-We drop ship and will blind ship directly to your customers if requested
-Redesigning our pricing and freight policies to save you money
We want to hear from you…
-What are you seeing in the markets you serve?
-What more can we do to help you to be successful?
Let us know!
Foreign Agricultural Service – Forestry
The US Department of Agriculture has a commodity based export office know as the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). The FAS collects export data on Wood Products and other products exported from the US. There are 32 different Forest Products Groups and many more Forest Products Subgroups that the FAS tracks. The subgroups are broken down into all types of hardwood and softwood products, flooring, veneers, plywood, molding, poles, railroad ties, pulpwood and etc.
Wood Product markets were down in 2008 from 2007, but there are some Wood Product Subgroups that went up in 2009. Perhaps there is a Wood Products Exporter in your area that needs the type of timber that you are harvesting. The FAS should be able to help you find the Wood Product Export market that you need to make additional logging company profits!
Contact our Forestry Sales Manager, David Clark, to learn how Tiffin Parts can help you better serve your customers and to be more profitable.
clark1585@intrstar.net
910-230-0680 Office
910-322-0429 Cell
Here’s a link to the FAS web site, which offers a wealth of information and links to other sites as well:
http://www.fas.usda.gov/ffpd/forest.asp
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Out in the field…February 2010
I’ve spent the past few days calling on customers in Alabama and Georgia. Most were heavy equipment dealers and some were independent repair facilities. At best, cautious optimism rules the day.
The general sentiment seems to be that once the weather clears that logging activity will be up in the Spring over last year since the mills are in dire need of wood. Once their needs are met, there seems to be some sense that the price of wood will drop and the logging segment will fall back to last year’s levels.
It was surprising to hear that several dealers had sold all of their Skidders and were waiting on delivery of more. It was not a surprise to see how little new inventory was sitting on the lots. The most sales activity seems to be with 2 and 3 year old equipment.
If there were bright spots, it seemed to be with equipment that moves dirt, whether it be for road construction or mining. In general, the feeling was that 2010 may be the same as or just slightly better than 2009 and that the market won’t show marked improvement until 2011.
We want to know…what are you seeing in the markets you serve???
Biomass as a boiler fuel…
The EPA is rewriting the regulations for industrial boiler emissions. Some power plants that want to convert to biomass may delay their conversions until the regulations are clearly understood. Some details should come out in April 2010. (Note: The EPA regulations that are being developed are called Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rules.)
Wood chips are a common fuel for industrial boilers. It’s a profitable method for disposing of a by-product of the logging process so this issue will be of interest to many in the industry. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more. Here are a couple of links for additional info:
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